Rarely have there been so many expectations around two French rookies! Even if Victor Wembanyama occupies 90% of the media space, the debut of Bilal Coulibaly is also closely observed as the 7th choice of the Draft has a good card to play with the Wizards.
In a team in full reconstruction after the departures of Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, Coulibaly already appears to be the best outside defender in his team, and Danilo Gallinari is full of praise for his young teammate.
“He has the opportunity to have a long career and be a great player, so if he preserves his physique and his legs for every game, night after night, and for every season, I think he will be very Good “ believes “Gallo”. “He has everything it takes to be a great player and he gives his all every day. He doesn’t back down and I think he can become one of the best two-way players, which is not that common. »
Defense ? A question of will and motivation
For the Italian, it’s a chance for any rookie “to learn from veterans to become aware of what needs to be done, the work to be done every day, and in particular to preserve one’s physique”. At 35 years old, and while his leaders have just parted ways with Taj Gibson, Gallinari is ready to play big brothers, and be the relay for coach Wes Unseld Jr. to get the defensive message across.
“This is what the staff needs to talk about and work on every day, and it’s something that needs to be repeated,” insists Gallinari. “Sometimes it’s easy to think about the offense and what we can do better on that end, but the defense, frankly, doesn’t need a lot of talent. It’s more about having the will to defend. It’s up to the coaches to motivate the players and find a way to get them to engage defensively.”
Impressed by Coulibaly’s defensive qualities, Gallinari is also impressed by those of Daniel Gafford, called upon to be the first protector of the circle. Alongside the Kuzma-Poole duo, Gafford will only be entitled to crumbs in attack, and Gallinari advises him to focus on his role. The rest will come later.
“As teammates, we expect a lot from him. We’re asking him to do a lot of things for us, and with all the new players we have, it might take him a little time to find the right cohesion to be effective, especially offensively.”recalls Gallinari. “But defensively, he has to focus on dominating rebounding and blocking, and being a very good defender in the paint. Then little by little, he will obtain more points and be even more effective offensively. I think there are no limits for him. »
